The Great TMM Theme Exchange
by TILAS
Summary: A collection of bite-sized fics by fourteen different authors, writing about a new theme every week.


**Collection 1: Famous First Lines**

Howdy, everybody! sakuuya here!**  
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For those of you who aren't already aware, this is how this fic works: A bunch of TMM writers each came up with a list of themed prompts, and then wrote a ficlet based on one of each person's prompts. The writer of a particular prompt is in parentheses after the prompt itself: I compiled this set of prompts, but only wrote the first one. So credit/blame where credit/blame is due, please! Hopefully, this will update every week or so, and you'll get to hear inane ramblings from different people involved in this project, rather than just my inane ramblings the whole time. :)

The title is subject to change, so if you've got a better idea, please let me know! Also, I didn't do a ton of editing, because I promised to get this up today, dammit!

**Disclaimer:** Tokyo Mew Mew belongs to Reiko Yoshida and Mia Ikumi. Each ficlet belongs to its respective author.**  
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**001. "All this happened, more or less." (sakuuya)**

"No, really!" Ichigo protested futilely. Moe and Miwa just looked at her with the _yeah-right_ expressions of people who were firmly convinced that they were too smart to fall for anything.

The world had been saved, the aliens had been sent packing, and most of the Mew project had been declassified. Yet, despite everything, there hadn't been much media attention after the final battle, and Ichigo was having a really hard time convincing her best non-Mew friends that she had had anything to do with saving the world.

"Come off it, Ichigo-chan," Moe said with a smirk. "First of all, you don't look anything like Mew Ichigo, and if you had really been off saving the world, I think Miwa and I would have noticed you being gone all the time."

Ichigo sighed. This was _not_ going well. "Do you know where Masaya is?" she asked. "He'll back me up."

But they scoffed. "Of course he would, Ichigo-chan! Aoyama-kun's your bo-oyfriend. I bet he'd tell us whatever you wanted him to tell us."

"All right, fine!" Ichigo said exasperatedly. It was time to pull out her big guns. "Meet me at the café after school, okay? Then I'll be able to prove it to you."

Moe and Miwa agreed happily. Even though Ichigo was clearly full of it, they could at least get some cake or something out of this.

Unfortunately, when they arrived, the café was being staffed by two girls who were probably brand new hires, since Ichigo didn't recognize them. She went up to the taller of the two, a platinum-blonde girl in an all-white uniform.

"Hi, uh, do you know if Shirogane-san or Akasaka-san is in today?" It felt weird to call Ryou and Keiichiro by their family names, but she figured that the new girl probably didn't know their given names.

"Yeah, I think Shirogane-san is in," the new waitress replied brightly. "Hang on, I'll get him for you." She disappeared into the back, and Ichigo wondered exactly how much the blonde knew about what Ryou really did back there."

"I don't think you're scheduled to work today, Ichigo," Ryou said without preamble when he saw her, "but if you want to, we have a ton of dishes that need washing..."

Ichigo shook her head so fast that her red hair made it look like her face was on fire. "No, thank you! It's just that..." She took a deep breath, focusing hard on not sounding like she was whining (but sounding pretty whiny nonetheless). "My friends here don't believe anything I'm telling them about the Mew Project. Could you set them straight?"

Ryou walked over to Moe and Miwa and put an arm around each of their shoulders. Even though she claimed to have gotten over her crush, Moe practically melted when Ryou touched her. Ichigo didn't like the way her boss was smiling.

"Come with me, ladies," he said, with an evil look in his eye that apparently no one but Ichigo could see. This was the worst idea she'd ever had. "I'll tell you the _truth_ about Mew Ichigo."

**002. "Nothing to be done." (iTaffy.G)**

"Nothing to be done..."

Pai glanced up sharply from the computer screen, to see Kish lying on the ground trying to pull his boot off. "What did you just say?"

"I said: 'nothing to be done'." Kish grinned lazily at his older companion, ripped his boot off and hurled it at the wall. "I figured it was pretty appropriate."

"Who are you, and what have you done with Kisshu?" Pai asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I've been reading."

"Reading _what?"_ Pai asked, before turning back to the screen, where he began typing out battle probability averages. "That sounds like some sort of Earth saying. I don't appreciate you saying such things, Kisshu."

"Aw, c'mon, Pai. Don't stunt my emotional..." Kish paused, and pulled off his other boot. _"...GROWTH!"_ Kish screamed, hurling his left boot into the side of Pai's head with remarkable accuracy.

Pai, on the other hand, failed to see what Kish was doing and ended up lying sprawled on the floor with his chair on top of him and a footprint on his face. He glowered up at his "friend", who did nothing but laugh and wiggle his toes. Taruto poked his head around the corner to see one of his friends on the floor and the other hysterically laughing at him. He opened his mouth and closed it, with a strange resemblance to a goldfish. The youngest alien chose the wisest option, and backed slowly out of the room.

"Kisshu?" Pai asked, staring at his green haired companion.

"...Yeah?" Kish asked, wiping a tear from his eye as he hiccupped in an attempt to stop laughing.

"_What_ am I going to do with you?" Pai picked himself up from the metal spaceship floor.

"I dunno. There's nothing _to _be done, I guess."

"You know what, Kisshu?" Pai asked, keeping his voice cold and serious.

"Mmm...Yes, Pai?"

"You are so..._cheesy._"

**003. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." (Kitty Kat K.O.)**

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; whichever her mind eventually settled on thirty years (or even sixty years, she was so indecisive at times) down the line, she knew it was at least a moment of significance. Ok, so it hadn't quite occurred to her straight away, nor a week later or even a month - but the point was, it had hit her now… an entire year following. And actually, it had hit her pretty hard. Or maybe that had been the lamppost she'd just walked into. Either way, it didn't really matter; she'd been smacked in the face by _something_ and it had thrown her off her guard completely.

Ichigo made a rabbit-like face, scrunching her nose up and creasing her brow as she took a step backwards. With arms akimbo, she tilted her head and stared at the tall, turned-off, metal pole as if it had the answer written all over it. …At least, that was the quip Mint made when she drifted gracefully past the catgirl Mew a moment later, flicking Ichigo in the head to "bring her back to earth and get her moving". The redhead grumbled, forgetting for a second her inner-dilemma as she chose to insult her best friend under her breath, before quickly scurrying to catch the girl up.

But the cold air tingeing her lips blue a good half hour on brought the memory rushing back, and with clumsy fingers she traced the contours of her mouth. It had happened such a long time ago, but… it was almost as though she could feel her first kiss being stolen from her once again. And maybe… just maybe… it wasn't so bad that it had been Kish who had robbed her of it. Or maybe it was. She really could be so indecisive.

**004. "Marley was dead to begin with." (GypsyxSilent)**

Keiichiro smiled demurely from his place across the table, shimmering slightly. "You look a little pale, Ryou. Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Ryou furrowed his eyebrows and said nothing, but folded his arms across his chest and studied Keiichiro intensely. "You remember why I'm here, yes?"

A curt nod.

The older gentleman frowned at this, and straightened his shoulders. "I know this situation is a tad unorthodox, Ryou, but surely you aren't so off-put that you can't be bothered to talk to me."

A pause, then a sarcastic retort: "I'm just trying to determine how exactly this is possible. I apologize if I'm coming across as distant." Keiichiro sighed, and folded his hands neatly in front of him.

"I only want to help, Ryou. This is unsettling for me, too. But you can't head the Mew Project on your own." He paused, and looked down at himself momentarily before resuming. "Even taking into account my current… circumstances, it's still too much for you to handle by yourself."

"I know you mean well," Ryou said after another pause, haltingly, as though he wasn't sure how to pronounce the words correctly. An awkward twitch of his lips and he was almost smiling. "But I'm not sure you'll be much help like… this." Keiichiro smiled grimly at this, and brushed the hair from his forehead wearily.

"I know there isn't much I can do physically, anymore. But I'd like to help any way I can. Perhaps it would be easier to leave the smaller details out of the equation, at least for now." Ryou was still and contemplative, one finger tapping fervently against his torso as he regarded the man sitting across from him.

"Fine," he conceded at last, and his voice was clipped and hard. Keiichiro sighed, regarding Ryou wistfully.

"You haven't touched your coffee," he said at length, leaning over to push the faintly steaming mug further across the table toward Ryou. Neither of them could suppress a surprised flinch when Keiichiro's translucent hand passed right through.

**005. "The drought had lasted for ten million years, and the reign of the terrible lizards had long since ended." (Zenaga the Sea Serpent)**

Kisshu clenched his hands tighter, staring out at the expanse of white sand. A chill ran down his spine, causing him to shake violently, starting from his feet, all the way to the tips of his ears. As the sand flew violently with the loud screech of the wind, he narrowed his eyes, trying to distinguish the ship from the rest of the landscape. Pai had been out there for two days now. Surely he had been out there long enough? Glancing behind him into the vast cavern, he took a deep sigh before turning to the ship once again, covering his mouth and nose with his grey cloak.

The sand and wind fought against him as he took slow, forced steps towards the ship. His eyes were tearing as he made his way. He felt more and more relieved as his view of the ship became clearer. As he reached the large vessel, he grabbed at the door, using all the strength he had in his arms to pull it open. When it finally opened wide enough, he slipped into the ship, turning to struggle with the door once again. As the door slammed shut, Kisshu let out a relieved sigh, taking a moment to rest before he continued his journey. Pulling the cloak away from his face, he walked through the corridor, pondering which room he would find Pai in. _The control room, most likely._ Making the appropriate turns, he arrived at the control room, peering in.

Pai stood before a large screen that was the only source of light in the room. The cool colors gave Pai's weathered face a ghostly hue as he typed at the computer, not acknowledging Kisshu's presence. "Pai," The elder alien finally turned to him, his eyes wide enough that Kisshu wondered if they were permanently open.

"Kisshu, return to get Taruto. We are prepared to leave for Earth."

Kisshu felt a knot form in his stomach at Pai's words. He pressed his lips together, fearing the long journey ahead of them, and what they would find when they reached Earth. Pai was no longer facing him, but had returned his possessed stare to the screen before him. Kisshu realized that he had never stopped typing.

"Understood."

**006. "It was love at first sight." (Essence of Gold)**

Spring has come, and the trees lining the drive are just beginning to come into bloom.

A teenage boy comes sprinting out of his house, munching on a last piece of tamagoyaki snatched from the table and nearly throttling himself with his schoolbag. He is running late, as usual. He adjusts the strap and swallows the last morsel of his hasty breakfast, then runs a hand distractedly through his  
hair and turns out of his drive. He's going to get detention again... And then he sees her.

She's standing under the blossoming cherry tree, the golden morning light glinting off her glossy red hair and giving her an almost angelic appearance. She's pin-neat in her new school uniform, which, his dazed brain notes ecstatically, is the same as his. When she sees him, she steps forward and gives a polite bow.

'Ohayo... I'm Akaihinode Sakura. I just moved in next door,' she nods over her shoulder to the nest house, and highlights dance on her hair. 'I'm sorry to bother you, but... I wonder if you would mind walking with me to school today? I don't want to get lost...'

His brain struggles to put together a coherent response. 'O-of course – I was just heading there n-now – I'd love to help you – uh, that is – yes.'

And she smiles sweetly. It's a wholesome, sincere smile, and it lights up her beautiful brown eyes and makes him feel, not like a scruffy schoolboy running several aeons late, but like the luckiest, happiest person in the world. He would not be surprised if he were floating several inches off the ground, walking on air among the cherry-blossoms.

'Thanks very much.' She pauses. 'By the way, what is your name?'

'I'm... Shintaro. Mommomiya Shintaro.'

It was love at first sight.

**007. "We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs started to take hold." (Tomoyo Kinomoto)**

"Yay! Daddy's home!" a small child shouted, sliding down the banister and running across the hall. "Daddy! Daddy!"

"Daddy?" was the collective response, followed by more joyful shouting as five other kids came tumbling into the front hall and raced to reach the door.

"Woah! Woah!" exclaimed a man, who had opened the door to his house only to be tackled to the ground. "Let me at least put my stuff down, first."

Giggling, the children retreated only a short distance, waiting with anticipation as the man slo-o-owly hauled himself to his feet, hung up his coat, put his suitcase on the stairs, then finally turned and beckoned to his children. Screaming with joy, all six of them tackled him to the ground again.

"Do you have any gifts for us?"

"Where'd you go this time, Dad?"

"Did you see how much I've grown? Huh? Did'ya? Did'ya?"

"Alright, guys," one girl said regretfully, standing and pulling the nearest child to his feet. "Let's all go sit down nicely in the other room with Daddy while I take his stuff upstairs."

"Aww!" was the collective response, and five pitiful faces turned towards her, eyes full of tears.

"No. It's dinner time, and you wouldn't want me to serve you all cold soup, would you?"

Apparently those were the magic words, for with a yelp and much shoving, the other five children darted into the other room, sitting around the table like perfect little angels.

"Thanks, Purin," her father said, rising and stretching his back before moving into the other room.

When her father's things had been moved into his bedroom, the food was finished cooking, and the rest of the family were sitting calmly around the table, Purin served everyone dinner.

"Say, Dad, what've you been doing this time?" asked Lucha, leaning eagerly over his bowl of food.

"Yeah! Did you get to use any explosives this time?" demanded Chincha, his head tipped back to catch the pieces of his dinner that he was dropping into his mouth. Heicha watched, her eyes wide, following each piece as it fell. Poking him with her chopsticks, Purin raised her eyebrows. Chincha, after recovering from the initial shock, grinned mischievously up at his older sister, then started noisily drinking his tea.

"Yeah, yeah! And what about your partner? Sebastian, or something, right?" chimed in Honcha, not even noticing as Hanacha stole a chopstick-full of food from his bowl.

Laughing, their father said, "Alright, I did promise I'd tell you when I got home. Let's see, the mission started out simply enough. We started out in Hong Kong, and—"

"Da-a-ad!" groaned all four boys, looking disapprovingly at their father.

"You said you'd tell us what the missions were, now! We're old enough!" exclaimed Chincha, the others nodding emphatically beside him. Heicha stuck her thumb in her mouth, and Purin automatically pulled it out and stuffed some rice into her mouth instead.

"I'm afraid I can't. Rules."

"Aww!"

"Stop complaining or he won't finish," replied Purin, looking at her father. "Go on! What happened in Hong Kong?"

"Well, we were tricked, and our informant turned out to be an enemy spy. Unfortunately, by that point it seemed like we realized the truth too late: we were already on board a ship to America."

"America?" repeated his children, all leaning forward with shining eyes.

"Yes, America," repeated Master Wong Taren, leaning back with his arms folded behind his head and nodding sagely. "Sebastian, of course was amazing. Some call him -"

"The silverware ninja!" shouted the boys, all jumping up in excitement.

"Yes, yes! Well, he just grabbed a bunch of knives and forks that he had been hiding up his sleeve and threw them at the crew members. Bad guys fell in all directions, and I bashed up as many as I could reach on the deck. I could have fought them with my hands behind my back – well, I did since they were still tied up, but-"

"Woah!" was the collective sigh.

"We were still going at it when the boat landed, and I felt something hit me in the neck. I reached behind me and pulled out-" Purin's father leaned forward, and seemingly pulled a chopstick from behind Heicha's neck. She squealed, slapping her hand against her neck as her father chuckled. "—a tranquilizer dart!"

"No way!" cried Lucha, chopsticks frozen half-way to his mouth.

"Shh!" reproached the other kids, shifting in their seats with anticipation.

"'Course, Seb and I put up a good fight for the new guys coming in, and it wasn't until we were somewhere around Barstow at the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold. The whole world seemed to slide sideways, and I couldn't tell which way was up."

All the Fong children tilted their heads in time with their father as he showed just how tilted the world seemed.

"And the next thing I know, I'm in a bunker somewhere, and Seb's kicking me awake. I quickly get us out of our bonds, and together we go to explore the base. Almost immediately, we were jumped by some guards. Seb got the ones on the right, and I immediately got the one on the left, breaking his neck with a nice clean twist."

"I can do that," scoffed Chincha.

"No you can't!" exclaimed Honcha scornfully.

"Can he?" asked Heicha, looking up at Purin.

"Of course, nanoda," replied Purin fondly messing up her little sister's hair. "Then what, Dad?"

"Well, the others were trickier since they were moving—"

"Naturally," Chincha remarked, unable to stop himself.

"—but I was able to deal with them without any trouble at all. See, the next guard was coming at me from the right with a simple dagger, so I grabbed him above the elbow, forcing his arm back, and then grabbing him by the belt and throwing him into the guy behind him. The next guy was smarter and tried to use a gun, but I was too fast for him. I grabbed the nearest bad guy, used him as a human shield, then tossed him at the gunman. While he was confused, I quickly jumped into the air, crushing his skull with my hands as I came down. But by then, the commotion had alerted other guards that we had escaped, and the siren was going off. More bad guys poured into the hall, and I started getting rid of all who I could reach. First, I started with an easy offensive, to save my strength…"

The next day, Purin bounced around the café, a huge smile plastered across her face. Her acts were more daring than ever, delighting her but not her coworkers.

"Purin! What are you doing up there?" demanded Ichigo, hands on her hips.

"You look funny, Ichigo-onee-chan," giggled Purin, juggling upside-down while she hung from the chandelier.

"What's gotten into the little monkey, now?" sighed Minto, sipping her tea with a hand to head. "You all are so loud it's disturbing my tea time."

A vein seemed to pulse in Ichigo's forehead. Zakuro placed a restraining hand on Ichigo's shoulder before she could say anything in response.

"My dad's home, nanoda!" shouted Purin, jumping down from her perch. Lettuce screamed, but Purin cheerfully landed, then turned and caught her juggling balls.

"Oh! I've never met your dad before," remarked Ichigo, clearly distracted by Purin's news. "What does he do, again?"

"Eh? He—" Purin hesitated for the briefest of moments before grinning back, "He trains in China to be the best martial artist ever!"

"Oh, well… That's cool, I guess," said Ichigo, losing interest and hurrying away to wait more tables.

"I'm sorry your father doesn't, uh, have a normal—I mean local!-job, Purin," stammered Retasu, hands waving frantically as she said the wrong thing, as per usual.

"Tch!" scoffed Minto, taking a long sip of tea. "That's nothing to get all excited about! He doesn't even do anything interesting."

Purin merely grinned at everyone, doing a few backflips to go seat a couple that just entered. _That's what you think… _she thought deviously.

**008. "One thing was certain, that the _white_ kitten had nothing to do with it: - it was the black kitten's fault entirely." (True Colours)**

Michael hissed as his rival sprang lightly onto the platform and rubbed head-to-head with Jacqueline. He was incredulous. Two pure-bred and perfectly marked Lilac Points such as themselves – it was more than proper, dignified and perfect. It was simply natural. And yet Jacqueline, with no sense of her station, was brushing him aside, passing him, _forgetting_ him completely as she ran to that mongrel, loudly declaring her love of his savage's food…

But even as fury and the instinct to fight clouded his mind, Michael knew that the white cat was not his real enemy. A stray like him would never have had the audacity to do what he had done. The black kitten had put him up to it.

He stared across the hall at her. Any human would have seen a red-headed schoolgirl – as ragged and out of place as the cat, to be sure, but a human – but he could see it. The little black kitten, curled up in her chest, cloaking her over with the scent and posture and delicacy of a smug little cat. She was hiding her true form. That was what she really was.

It was the black kitten's fault entirely.

**009. "I am a sick man ... I am a spiteful man." (Immortal x Snow)**

He might still be a boy, but this has made him more than a man.

Nothing causes a person to grow the way tragedy does. Of all the major experiences one can have as a child—the first day of school, the first night away from one's parents, the first time one falls in love—none forces a child to grow up as much as a tragedy does.

Especially when a tragedy has taken away a child's parents.

As soon as he sees the fire destroying his house, Ryou knows he will never have the life he once did. Everything will be completely different. He wants to struggle against this change, against this horror, but Keiichiro's arms prevent him from dashing into his house to find and rescue his parents. The boy wants to run, to do anything to make his life the way it was before—to return to his life with his parents, with his happiness, with his _childhood_.

But the world has a time limit on everything, and the time one can be a happy child has the most restrictive limit of all. After this tragedy, Ryou can be a boy no longer. Without his parents, he cannot be what he once was. Having no one left to be with him but Keiichiro, he has to be a man.

But with all that has happened to him, he will be a sick man, a spiteful man, whenever he remembers the way he lost not only his parents, but also his childhood.

**010. "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel." (eeveepuff)**

Retasu Midorikawa could still remember when she'd first been recruited for the M.Y.U. project. The promise of it had seemed to good to be true- protection for her family, a steady income they hadn't had since her father died, the opportunity to live in New Tokyo- and all she had to do was sign the papers.

Fresh-faced and straight out of highschool, she'd been eager to agree.

'For the future of Japan, we will be of service!'

Years later she would look back on it much differently. Things that seemed too good to be true usually were, after all.

The future of Japan. What a joke.

o()o

The sky above New Tokyo was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.

From a distance, the city looked almost beautiful to the untrained eye, the lights of the skyscrapers and plasma screens glowing an iridescent spectrum of hues against the darkness. Retasu knew better, though- up close, the city was barely a fragment of what it'd once been, the war having ravaged it away to hardly more than a human cesspool of filth and greed.

At least, that's what Pai had always said.

She shook her head, trying to shake the name from her mind. The burst of static inside her left ear served as a reminder that she didn't have time to think about him right now, and she ducked behind a potted plant at the sound of approaching guards further down the hallway.

No, there was no time to getting distracted- not tonight, when she had a job to do.

Retasu wiped away the sweat beading along her hairline with the back of a leather glove. She wasn't sure why she was so nervous. After all, she'd gone over the plan with Ryou a dozen times, and she had it memorized by heart.

Break into Ai no Kishi's apartment undetected, kill him, search his room for the hard drive. She didn't like the idea of killing a complete stranger, even if they _were_ the right-hand man of a well-known crime lord, but Shirogane's word was law with the girls, and if he wanted someone dead she had no say in the matter. The Blue Knight was going to die tonight.

Breaking into the building and sneaking up 27 floors without being seen had been the hard part. Akasaka-san had disabled the hotel video cameras, and Agent Fujiwara would be backing her up as sniper, so all she had to do now was get in and get out. Simple, easy.

_So why was her heart racing so fast?_

The black standard-issue uniform she was wearing blended in perfectly with the shadows, and the guards walked right by her, too caught up in their conversation to even notice her presence. They were talking about an incoming shipment of guns in the local dialect, a jumbled mixture of English, Japanese, and German. She silently emerged from her hiding spot and knocked the pair out with the butt of her rifle.

She tore the security tags from their unconscious bodies, and after that it was a simple matter of scanning the tags at the entrance to no Kishi's penthouse, a set of wooden double doors which opened with a quiet _whoosh._

"I'm in, Shirogane-san," she whispered into her earpiece as she slipped into the empty room, gun drawn.

Her boss's voice came over the line only a few moments later. "Alright. You should be clear to head upstairs."

400 meters away, on the rooftop of the opposite building, Zakuro Fujiwara watched the younger woman through the infrared scope of her rifle, making sure she got in safely. They would have maybe a fifteen-minute window before someone noticed the unconscious guards, which was just enough time to get the job done. Hopefully she wouldn't have to use her weapon at all.

The communications line was filled with Retasu's quick breathing. Miles away in headquarters, Ryou frowned, blonde eyebrows scrunched together as he watched her through the live security feed.

"Anything wrong?"

"O-Of course not," Retasu said, trying to sound confident, although in reality she was asking herself the very same question. Inside Ai no Kishi's apartment, she licked her chapped lips and pulled her goggles over her eyes, flicking on the night-vision mode. Her line of sight turned bright green. "I. . .I'm just a little nervous."

"Well don't be. We can't afford to screw this up- we need that hard drive too much."

Retasu nodded shakily. No need to remind her. "What's on it, anyway? Is this about the Myu A-"

"It doesn't matter what's on it," he said, cutting her off sharply. "Just don't leave there without it."

The green-haired girl swallowed. "Right." She wanted to protest, but she knew it wasn't her place. There were some things Retasu was learning that, as the newest member of the M.Y.U. unit, she wasn't allowed to know about. She switched the goggles to infrared, and a red spot showed up further inside, standing up in one of the bedrooms.

Ai no Kishi. She took off the goggles and checked to see her gun was fully-loaded, making her way into the living room.

Yes, tonight someone was going to die, and she hoped it wouldn't be her.

**011. "It was a dark and stormy night..." (XxXChiharu-Chan-1000-SpringsXx)**

Standing in the rain was such a stupid thing to do, Minto thought, because all she was going to end up doing was making herself sick. She didn't know what exactly it was that made her step outside with nothing but a beige overcoat, but she was... Sad. Not one to simply stare blankly at her surroundings, her blue eyes were glued to a small bird which had gotten knocked out of a tree by the winds of the storm. She watched as the bird struggled to get back up on its feet, falling each time it stood up. Gravity permitted it a second and nothing more before it crashed down on the ground again.

Feeling a tinge of pain, the bird-infused girl takes a step towards her supernatural friend, only to find the heel of her shoe slipping off the ground. And, like the bird in front of her that has fallen victim to gravity, she, too, finds herself in a pile of mud. As disgusted as Minto should have gotten, she doesn't make a move. Everything is still. Calm. Silent. Her eyes soften as she gazes at the girl she idolizes, the rain making her majestic, dark purple hair shimmer in the light from the moon trying so hard to peak from behind the clouds.

Holding her blue umbrella with her free hand, Zakuro bends down on one knee, cupping the helpless animal in her hand and glancing towards Minto, shielding the creature from the drops of perspiration from the sky. "Z-Zakuro-sama—!" she stammered, a light blush of embarrassment tinting her cheeks. How could she ever let Zakuro see her like this? So weak... So fragile... Before Minto can start apologizing profusely, the taller of the two leans her umbrella bar against the small of her neck, reaching out towards the blue-haired girl with petite, manicured fingers.

"You'll get sick," she warned, nodding her head. "Come, Minto. It's time to come home."

Had this have been any other time, Minto would have taken her idol's hand without hesitation. But that's what bothered her—the way she hesitated when reaching out for her. Tears started to flow down her cheeks, but the dancer hoped Zakuro chopped them up to only being trickles of rain rushing down her cheeks. Holding in her sobs, she grabbed Zakuro's hand, standing up straight.

"You had everyone worried to death," the model added, looking straight ahead. She paused, which was unusual. Minto always thought Zakuro knew what she was going to say immediately after opening her mouth. Isn't that what famous models do? "Minto, promise me you won't run away again. We've been looking for you all night."

Glancing at the bird sitting within the palms of the purple-haired teenager, Minto closed her eyes and gives an approving nod and a small, faint smile.

"Of course, Zakuro-sama."

**012. "All children, except one, grow up." (Saba's Reflection)**

All children, except one, grow up.

Taruto was that exception. The alien preserved his youth by drinking others' blood; children's blood. He stole their childhood, just like his was long ago, snatched by extreme weather conditions. He waited for the day he could feel the innocence of a child. Only then would he let time age him.

He envied Kisshu. It never ceased to astound him how his older comrade smiled. Not just the cold sheepish smile when a plan unfolded, but the one which lit the room. The one which, as he spoke, grew wider and wider and wider until it irritated Pai. The one which melted ice exteriors (except Pai's). The one of someone in love.

Why couldn't Taruto feel love and compassion? No matter how much blood he consumed, it was never enough to feel the hearts the blood derived from; children's hearts. He wanted to feel them, he wanted to feel the love in them so bad. Maybe part of him which processed this emotion died long ago.

It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair! If he couldn't love why should any other child?

That was when children started dying. The more and more he killed, the more and more detached he became from reality. He no longer envied Kisshu; such emptiness that he began to idolise Pai almost religiously to fill the gap. Pai was the only one who made sense at the time, even when the shut off alien didn't understand himself. Pai knew what his orders were, and they went without questioning. But sometimes he relied solely on blind faith rather than logic as motivation to persist.

Someone offered him his childhood back once. Purin. How could he forget her? Blonde curls, braids, fiery orange eyes. They were especially fiery when she was a combination of hurt and angry. A complexion simply described as beige, and glowing with radiance. And her smile. Her smile! It lit up more than a room, it lit up Taruto's world. When she hugged him amidst much resistance on Taruto's side, his heart threatened to burn. At one point, it burned with Purin's love. Although their friends were strangling one another for victory in the background, they never copied them. The most damage Taruto ever wanted to inflict was tears, and when it happened he had died before knowing. His death inflicted those tears in the first place.

He was dragged down by Kisshu, who held a finger to his lips. He was ushering silence. Behind the bush was their perspective of the battle, the battle with one outcome. It was the battle which Deep Blue knew had been lost by Tokyo Mew Mew already (or so he thought). Yet they attempted to disarm him again and again.

Taruto watched as Purin charged at their saviour like a bull, having forgotten a monkey's blood ran through her veins instead. Deep Blue didn't even have to touch her to throw her off course; a bolt of lightning did that on his behalf. It swatted Purin like a fly.

This wasn't their saviour. This was a monster of their own creation.

It was why Taruto planted himself into the line of fire. He felt it was his fault. He felt that if Purin didn't survive, he couldn't live without her. However, she could live without him. After all, he never had the same effect on her which she gave him. He never smiled, or hugged back. Or thanked her. His sacrifice would be his way of expressing gratitude.

_I don't want to fight anymore!_

His childhood may have been stolen, and he might have stolen others' to compensate, but none of it mattered anymore. Because Purin would have a childhood. A stolen childhood which he stole back.

**013. "In my younger and more vulnerable years, my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my head ever since." (Safaia Bara)**

Momomiya Shintaro was never one to speak very profoundly or deeply. He would more or less say what he needed to say, which was usually the first thing that came into his mind, and be done with it.

Most of the things he talked, or rather yelled, about revolved around my relationships with boys; Aoyama-kun and Shirogane-san to be specific. I'm sure if he ever met Kisshu, he'd have strangled him within minutes. But one thing always stuck with me.

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since:

Fast ripe, fast rotten.

I never really understood what he meant.

At least not until I found Masaya and myself drifting apart. I realized that we had jumped into the relationship too fast. All of the good times were used up too soon, leaving us both miserable and irritated. We began snapping at one another for no reason, causing us to go to bed angry - something my mother said a couple should never do - and wake up even more upset than before. It was a never ending circle of problems with no resolutions.

It went on for months, until I just couldn't handle it anymore. That's when the shit hit the fan.

For some inexplicable reason, we had been fighting over where to go out for dessert. Absolutely ridiculous. I, of course, wanted to go to the café and catch up with my friends. It had been weeks since I'd spoken to Retasu. She'd started a new relationship with a secret boy she wouldn't tell me about. I really wanted to get that information out of her, but my _boyfriend_ was under the impression that I was interested in someone else at the café. Someone named Shirogane Ryou.

I was hurt that he could even suggest such a thing, but more than that, I was insulted. I never thought he would ever have the audacity to be so disrespectful to me. It was then that I realized that he was not the person I thought he was - he wasn't the perfect, popular boy who was the perfect gentleman every second of every day. His true colors were finally coming out, and I didn't like what I saw.

We had gotten too close too soon. Our relationship hit its prime too early, and it all crumbled around me, blowing away like dust in the wind.

Fast ripe, fast rotten.

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.

But when it finally clicked…it was too late.

**014. "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." (Fireflies Glow)**

Beautiful. That was the only would Ichigo could find in her mind. The creme blueness with the swirls of purple. The delicate sprinkling of silvery flecks. The way the light hit the gold and... Oh, and the pale magnolia coloring of the body...

That was, without a doubt, the most gorgeous cupcake she had ever seen in the whole wide world.

"Shirogane?" Ichigo's voice was gentle, tone sincere.

A smirk laid out on his face as he turned to face her. It taunted and teased.

She gave a smile. "Is that for me?"

His voice was arrogant, as usual. "What do you think?"

Her breath was short. "Please, oh please, say yes."

The blonde's smirk grew a bit wider, if possible, as he stopped and turned around to face her. Time stopped in the kitchen.

"Why would I give this to you?"

Ichigo let out a hopeful smile. "Because I'm really good with the customers?"

He was raised an eyebrow and Ichigo offered a grin with a thumbs-up. He shook his head.

"Because... you want to be really nice?"

Ryou snorted. "Ha!"

Ichigo fell to her knees. "Oh please, Shirogane, I want this cupcake, I need this cupcake so much! I've gotta have it! I'm gonna... I'm gonna _die_ without it!"

"You wouldn't die if you didn't get this cupcake, baka-Strawberry," he said and rolled his eyes at her.

"Yes, but! It's such a good cupcake, such a delicious looking cupcake, Shirogane..."

He smirked. "Convince me to give this cupcake to you if you need it so bad."

"I..." She began. "I..." And then she lifted up her nose in the air and said: "Because it is a truth universally acknowledged that a slaver driver of a boss- I mean really nice, super wonderful boss- with a cupcake gives it to his hardest working employee on... today?"

"Do you even know what today's date is? That's a really sorry excuse, Strawberry."

"What?" She pretended to be shocked. "Everyone knows that! So can I have that cupcake now?"

He still looked unimpressed. "I don't think so."

Ichigo whined and then gave the performance of her life, utterly melodramatic. "Oh Shirogane, if you give me that cupcake I'll do anything for you! You can pay me in cupcakes for the rest of my life! You can mop the floor with me or clean the windows with me but just give me that cupcake! I deserve it, don't I? I work hard, don't I? If anyone deserves that cupcake it should be me! That cupcake has my name on it!"

"That's the best you can do?"

Ichigo nodded her head furiously.

He looked amused. "Why do you want it so bad?"

She sighed. "It's beautiful!" Ichigo turned pleading eyes towards him. "Please, Shirogane? Please? Pretty please with sugar on top?"

"I don't think I should give this to you..." he went to say as she exploded:

"But I want that cupcake, Shirogane!"

It was quiet. He raised an eyebrow. Ichigo turned an awe-inspiring, hopeful face up at him. She clasped her hands in between them, ready to receive what she believed was rightfully hers.

Ryou's smirk broke into a smile. _Yes! _His hands outstretched towards her, touching hers, as she reached to take the cupcake from him...

And he pulled his hands away just as she touched the cupcake. Without pausing, he bit into him as he savored its deliciousness. He licked his lips as she watched in amazement and placed the wrapper in her hands. Ichigo blinked twice. He smirked as her face dropped and she stared at him in utter disbelief. He licked his lips again to emphasize his point: the cupcake was all gone. But then he smiled. Maybe he had another one? And then:

"Throw the wrapper in the trash, Strawberry." It wasn't even a question, or a request: it was a demand.

For a second seconds, she was unable to answer. But her face blazed and she finally began, "You-"

Without pausing to hear her answer, Ryou walked straight out of the room. But then he paused in the doorway and he called out: "Don't worry, there's still some icing and crumbs left in the wrapper for you." He turned around to face her, smirk unmissable, and Ichigo gritted her teeth. Furiously, finally able to react, she let out a shriek and threw the wrapper after him; she missed and it hit the door frame. The crumbs fell to the floor.

"You're cleaning that!" he added from outside. Ichigo let out a frustrated shriek and he chuckled.

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that you are a jerk!" She paused for added measure, stuck her nose up in the air, and finished with: "_You jerk!"_


End file.
